Wednesday, September 7

Moon and Fire

I really really like mooncake. I guess that should come as no surprise since I like lotus paste things like "lian rong pao" and dense desserts. Furthermore, the discovery of warm, luscious mooncakes out of the magicical microwave (around 15-20 seconds, depending on chunk) seems to make every bite even better than the last.

Yet for health and taste concerns, my parents never bought mooncakes. I know, I am starting to sound like the bitter kid who never got the box of 30 double-end colour pencils she asked for. The mooncakes we had at home were always gifts from family friends and relatives - and this year was no exception.

Kw bought a box of Shangri La and Fullerton mooncakes for our parents. His family takes mooncakes very seriously... in a no nonsense-kid-pleasing-snowskin-for-us way (though I am super pleased they finished the box of Jewels champange truffle snowskin I bought); fine Chinese tea must be drunk alongside mooncakes to balance out the yin and yang; and kids under 12 must carry paper panterns with bored goldfishes and pensive rabbits (kidding!).

Anyway...

We swopped out two each from both boxes so that there would be a mix for each side. This must be such a common practice for the individual boxes fit perfectly into the another's box. So cre-verh...

For me, all mooncakes tasted pretty much the same to me until you eat them side by side. Shangri La has always been very reliable but I am pretty much won over by Fullerton's smooth, almost nudgeable texture - this is one mooncake I would get all pyromanic on you if you take my share.

Ritz Carlton

The next day, we tried mooncakes from Ritz Carlton and Hua Ting. Ritz's mooncake was good, as good as Shangri La (ah, wise words from a discerning connoisseur). I am not crazy about Hua Ting's white lotus paste but their egg yolk, according to kw, was the best of the lot.

With only a few more days until the offical beginning of Mid Autumn Festival, I better pace myself or find a way to disguise my mooncake face.